7DOVP
by MookieRoo
Summary: Series of one-shots/ficlets/drabbles based on the 7 Days of Victorious Prompts Challenge by YouCan'tControlMe and x-clownsdontbounce-x. I hope I can complete all seven within the time limit. Have fun with it and be inspired to write. ÚNICAMENTE EN INGLÉS
1. Cold

**Cold**

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Written for the 7DoVP (Seven days of Victorious prompts).

**Author's note:** this is a ficlet of the hours after one of my one-shots called _Vendetta_. You are welcome to read it before this one if you like, or just pick up the story here.

**Disclaimer: Victorious doesn't belong to me. **

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A quiet brush of cold air let her know that the night had reached maximum depth. Four hours had passed and she still rested on that cold and wet stone paved floor, holding her lifeless body, keeping her close, as if she could somehow return what had been lost.

She sung a lullaby as she wept over her never girlfriend, once enemy and almost friend until the day before. She rocked her slowly as she continued with another song and then another one.

Her voiced trembled as the coldness reached her bones and she could no longer pretend everything was a dream and suddenly she would wake up from that nightmare.

It began to sink in.

It started to become real.

Tori was dead...

Her life gone without a goodbye, wasted on that boulevard by the force of a gun and that small bullet that trespassed her skin as if she was mare gelatin. So fragile that it ended in a second and so heavy that it collapsed on the floor only to be picked up by those arms that failed to reach her on time.

She sang and sang, unwilling to let go, still remembering what her mind had created moments before that wreaking shot.

Their lives, the secret love they shared, the future that will never come.

She no longer could see clearly. Her eyes were too swollen, her body too tired, her heart too damaged and her mind too busy trying to make sense out of this.

"I love you," she whispered as a vapor cloud left her mouth and mixed with the cold air around her.

Shivering, wet, broken…

She started to cave in, her exhausted body, finally weaken by the freezing temperature and the raw emotion, let her fall in a deep sleep, making way to her own demise.

…

«The bodies of two young girls, where found this morning at around 3AM, here over Crimson Boulevard.

»One of them, still alive, was taken immediately to the local hospital to be treated for hypothermia. The other one was pronounced dead on arrival and was taken to the morgue to be identified by family.

»Recently installed security cameras on the pier show the gruesome scene that took place around 8PM last night.

»Two men have been identified as active members of the Los Angeles Cartel, that apparently were looking for vendetta on one of the arresting officers that put their boss in jail for life last year.

»Apparently the thugs kidnapped both girls and drove them here, giving them guns and forcing them to point each other. It's unclear what happened, but in a sudden change of events, of the girls turned the gun to herself and shot the gun that ended her life.

»As soon as this happened both men collected the weapons and charged to their van leaving the other young woman to fence for herself as she guarded the body of her friend.

»Witnesses that found them this morning talked to us and said this is not an uncommon practice. The pier has become a dumpsite for the emerging mafia wars over the last few years.

»The families of the involved have asked for privacy and respect in this difficult times.

»Reporting for News Channel 7, this is Mathew Smith. Back to you Robin».

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**Author's note: **I hope you like it. If you haven't read the main story yet, I invite you to take a look. It's a shot one-shot too, but from Jade's point of view. It's called _Vendetta_ (or _Venganza_ \- the Spanish version).

Thank you for reading and please remember that you can leave me a happy smiley ":)" if you like it, or a sad one if you hated it ":(". Thanks for your time. I'll be seeing you around.

Bye!


	2. Sins

Written for the 7DoVP (Seven days of Victorious prompts).

**Author's note:** for this one-shot I decided to recreate a passage of a future fic I'm writing that will see the light of day next year. It's something very dear to my heart and I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: Victorious doesn't belong to me.**

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I sit here trying to figure out why it's so important for this therapist that we write what happened, on these diaries. Since the day we met until now, everything that took place between us, good or bad, all of it.

I remember the painful parts more clearly, I know exactly where everything fell apart.

It was on that tour, my first. The biggest international tour of my young career, Tori Vega finally made it outside the US; it was supposed to be three months, it took twice the time.

The dates for concerts started to open up as the first presentations turned out to be a success.

The only problem was that my life was a charade, my official artistic name was Victoria Justice, not Tori Vega, and I was single, not married… even less married to Jade West.

I was living my dream and I was doing it as a lie.

We had a baby; he was three years old, Luc. Beautiful, smart, kind, loving… the sweetest boy you could ever meet. I carried him, but he was ours. We planned him, we looked for the donor together, we took care of him as the months of my pregnancy passed. Jade took care of both of us, in fact.

She would sing to him, every night, to kiss the belly was her first activity in the mornings, making sure I ate right was her priority; she even made sure that our movie cabinet was filled with Disney movies, so he wouldn't get scared.

It happened once, we where watching The Scissoring —by then I was used to it— but Luc wasn't. He was so sensitive to the screams, to the music, he jumped up and down in my belly that night, he was so distressed that I could feel my whole body ache.

"Never again," said Jade and put all the scary movies away in a box and threw it in the attic.

Next day, the whole cabinet had every single Disney movie ever made and we would watch at least one, every night.

Jade made unimaginable sacrifices for us, in her work schedule, in our daily lives, everything she could do, she did and then more.

Six months after Luc's birth, I got offered a better record deal with a bigger and really important label. My manager and I went to the meeting and after we read the conditions that stated that I couldn't be in an _out of the closet lesbian relationship_, I decided not to take it, however Jade couldn't care less and pushed me to reconsider.

"There will be time for that in the future, don't worry about it now. We'll be out one day, when you get to make your own rules."

Jade gave it all to me, putting herself in the last place… always in the last place.

She became my '_friend_' in front of the cameras. Luc, didn't exist —so to speak—, which in a way, we were glad to have happened; it was always better than to have his picture everywhere. At least he could grow up in a resemblance of normalcy.

My loves accompanied me on the first month of the tour. We went to Paris and Spain, also to Italy. However, I couldn't really spend much time with them, or outside the hotel. It was a nightmare, but at least, I had them around.

After that, Jade had to go back to the US and return to her job. She was starting as a young writer on a new vampire show that was becoming really popular. Her vacation was over and they couldn't stay any longer.

Of course she took Luc with her. There was no place for a baby in a Rock and Roll tour around Europe and Asia. I saw them last at the lobby of the hotel… and there they went, the last time I would kiss my wife in over ten years.

The last month was excruciating and there were some personnel changes on the communications team. Vanessa, an old lover of my wife, became the media manager for the remaining time.

I hated her.

Jade and I went to college together and this girl was her classmate in several subjects.

She wanted her, who wouldn't, Jade was beautiful, but she made _(out of the way) _efforts, displacing me, taking all her time, stealing all her attention. She became Vanessa's obsession and —as any good stalker— she knew exactly how to seduce her.

I decided to confront my then girlfriend and warn her, it was this girl or me. Jade and I fought a lot because of her, because Jade truly believed in their friendship. So… ultimatums, not a good idea, but I gave her one and I had what I asked for, she chose… she left me that night.

It hurt.

So much I almost thought I would die of pain, but I didn't. Six months later Jade came back and did the impossible to win me over again. She didn't need to… I loved her. She had me, _at hello_.

Vanessa, she is a woman filled with poison. She scrambled my head that last month of tour, told me things that never happened, that Jade supposedly did in LA, all those months I was away. She brained washed me and tore my confidence apart.

I started to become really apprehensive to anything Jade did, even if it was a video of Luc doing something funny, if she happened to appear on frame, my smile would go away.

I hated talking to her at night, or see her updates on Facebook, anything related to my wife I despised. Vanessa had me on the palms of her hands.

The night before I returned, I got really drunk on the hotel bar. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go back to Jade and a married life with someone you can't seem to repudiate more.

Vanessa came out of nowhere and started talking to me, condescendingly, with pity, mocking me; and the more she did that, the more I hated Jade for bringing her into our lives, for once choosing her over me, for doing all this things she never did —but I believed wholeheartedly she had— I was nuts, drunk and in the worst company.

She took me to my room and I caved in. I wanted to know how it felt to be the one hurting the other, to be the one that makes the wrong decision, the one that doesn't care. She kissed me and kissed her back. I closed the door, pushing her to the wall. She took all my clothes out; I took hers… I slept with her; I cheated on my wife… on my son… on my life.

My sin… the first one, betrayal.

After I returned, I was picked up at the airport by a limousine and, when I got home, the nice chauffeur that carried my bags helped me to the door. As soon as I opened it, I found a surprise party —I had no idea of— right inside my house.

I welcomed it; I didn't want to talk to her.

I saw them and went straight for my son, I picked him up, looked at Jade and… I remember, she was so happy. She had the most joyful smile, the one she almost never showed…

…I stole that.

I'm sure. I think that, to this day —eleven years later—, I haven't seen that back.

I didn't kiss her, I graced her cheek with mine, that was it.

She looked worried then, but let it go… that was Jade, always putting herself in the last place.

When the party was over, she put the baby to sleep and I asked her to leave me alone with the excuse of a long trip and then the party. She complied and started to fix up the house.

I went upstairs and opened the bathroom to get ready for bed.

It was amazing. Jade had put Luc down and prepared another surprise for me. There was a very exquisite white wine on the cooler, two glasses on a very nice side bathtub table and hot water filled with little gel balls that permeated the room with a fresh and soothing aroma.

She did that for us, yet she was downstairs cleaning the mess of _my party_, as if she was punished. Still she gave me my space with no complains.

My second sin… indifference.

A month passed by and she took everything I threw at her, how she maintained the house, how she organized the schedule of _my son_, how she decided to raise him. Why she let him come to our bed in the mornings before school, why did he had to go to Yoga classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or do art crafts on Mondays, or why did she made him make his own bed or clean up for himself. Nothing she did was ever right, nothing.

One night I got home, I went to his room and he wasn't there. I stormed downstairs and asked her why he wasn't in the house. She told me she had left him with Trina for the night. She was cooking but I didn't notice then.

"When I get home, I want _my son_ home, ¿got it?" I said harshly, she looked down, containing herself from starting a fight, specially that night. She said she would go to pick him up right then and there, I told her to leave him alone, it was late and he must be sleeping.

I started to go to our room to change clothes and read a little before bed, maybe watch a movie and as I was walking up I heard her saying:

"Happy Anniversary," it was so soft, she didn't want me to hear it and then she turn around to walk back into the kitchen but I stopped her.

"I think that from now on, we should sleep in different bedrooms," yeah, I became an asshole.

My third sin… cruelty.

She nodded and turn around passing me by straight to pack a bag and move to her studio. —The guest room was my rehearsal room, and there was no other place to go— It was uncomfortable, even a little cold, no TV, not a closet, not a shower in the bathroom, not a bed… just a red sofa.

The next morning, I felt _my little buddy_ come into my room and look around… for her. He went to my side and saw me awake.

"Where is mommy?" He was scared and I was sad… he never looked for me; it was always her, his _mommy_.

By the next day, he figured it out. She was at the studio and that's where he went in the mornings from then on.

I came down for a cup of coffee and saw them cuddling in the sofa. Jade was holding him with such love, protecting him, stroking his hair, kissing him on his forehead… true love right there.

My fourth sin… jealousy.

Things never got better. I got so invested in hurting her; I even called my lawyer to initiate the divorce papers and to find out how to get Luc's full custody. It wasn't hard.

When our son was born there was a mix-up at the hospital. The nurse made a mistake and put another baby father's name as Luc's biological dad. We had to go to the registry to fix it, but it took a lot of paper work and then I got signed. In the end we forgot.

Jade was never mentioned as her adoptive mother, because she wasn't. See, you let those things pass you by because —when you are happy— you never think someone you love so much would ever hurt you like that. Nevertheless, I did, I wanted to… and I did.

I had everything ready but I didn't know how to ask her for the divorce yet, so I kept the papers in a brown bag inside one of the drawers of the studio —yes, of her new room— She found them but never mentioned anything, she obviously went to talk to her dad, he was a big shot lawyer, but even he didn't anticipate how heartless I had become.

One morning we got into a fight, I don't even remember about what. It could have been about why the weather was so cold; it didn't even matter anymore. I started to rub in her face that I hated the way she did things that involved Luc, _my son_. I had to make it clear all the time… he was _my son_.

She stared at me and asked me straight on:

"Would you do it, Tori? Would you take him from me?"

My body was filled with shivers, because I already had. He was going to be mine, only mine, but I played along.

"Why do you insist on babying him, he is four years old!"

"I hug him and kiss him, why does it bother you so damn much?"

"Because he is going to grow up as a spoiled kid. Why do you let him go to you every morning? He has his own bed!"

"Because he is the only part of you that still loves me!" She yelled with tears in her eyes. "He is the only one that still kisses me and tells me he loves me. He is the only one I have!"

She was right… but he was still mine.

I was a fool. I was the fucking devil; I was the one that did this… all of it.

We are here today, because I divorced my wife and persuaded the Judge to strip all guardianship of Luc from her. He even gave us a restraining order to keep her at least two miles away from us.

We are here today because that afternoon, the judge gave her twenty minutes to say goodbye to _her boy_ and she made the best out of it. She was engraved in his memory and he never forgot her.

We are here, ten years later… because he found her.

We are here, because he demanded to be heard and to get her back in our lives.

We are here because it took me a month to realize what I've done back then; how stupid I'd been, what a liar Vanessa was —yeah, she confessed that she made it all up— However, it's taken me ten years to recuperate what I'd lost.

Lastly, we are here because even with all the pain I inflicted on her, Jade gave me another chance. She still sees us —the loves of her life— and puts herself last.

I'll put her first from now on and forever, as long as she lets me.

That's the reason we write it all down. So we don't make the same mistakes, so we can move on from the bad and remember the good. So Luc can enjoy his mommy back, and Jade can have _her son_ in her arms again.

Here is where I redeem my sins.

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**Author's note: **So, maybe you didn't understand shit of this, sorry about that XD.

It's a story that's been on my mind for about nine months now. I have parts of it written down and will do a long fic but with a very different perspective than this one-shout had, even with some OC. I'll publish it first in Spanish and then translate.

This is not even a fifth of the story, just an event in time.

I'm excited, I didn't know I was going to put this put there until next year, but well. It is what it is.

Please let me know what you think and if you liked it you are welcome to leave a ":)" or a ":(" if you hated it.

See you on the rest of the prompts. I'll be reading and reviewing tomorrow, right now it's late here and I'm going to sleep.

Have a good night, bye!


	3. A Few Hours

**A Few Hours**

Written for the 7DoVP (Seven days of Victorious prompts).

**Disclaimer: Victorious doesn't belong to me.**

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We are all dead, that I know. It's impossible to survive an explosion of this magnitude. In another second, my charred body will lie on that boiling pavement.

And here I am, enjoying my last second of life, because the last one, is the longest one; the so longed cliché, the flashback in which you can revise every important moments of your life, analyze them and either appreciate them or hated them.

They say that if you believe in God, this is the time to make peace with your actions, pack up your essence and walk towards him. For those of us who do not share the belief is an uncertain moment. What purpose do the last seconds of life really have?

The first memory I have, is from when I was a baby and my mother was holding me to her chest. Never have I ever felt that comfort again. Her warmth and her love all wrapped in her arms, the ones that she has denied to me over the last few years. I wanted that feeling back so badly, I know now. That's why I always searched in other people's bodies for a certain relief. Nothing like sleeping over someone's chest, hear their heartbeat, feel their "love."

Next, is time for dad. I didn't remember this, at least not like I see it now. He is helping me over the swings, we are at a park and he is happy, genuinely happy. There is another one of me here, Hanna, my twin.

We were identical, same blue eyes, same light brown hair, white porcelain skin. We both had a smile on our faces all the time. She was my mate, my buddy, my friend. She died when we were four.

The two of us got sick, a nasty cold virus that we caught from one of the teachers. We spent days at the hospital and as I got better, she got worst. It was then that the doctors discovered that, on the inside, we weren't as identical as it seamed. She had a weird condition and her immune system was very fragile. Mine, in the other hand, was very strong, in fact, I never get sick, like never.

Nothing was ever the same, mom and dad created a wall around me, but left me there to fence for myself and this is what I became.

Cat is here now, one of my better memories, I met her at a performance themed summer camp, in which we sang, danced and also performed in plays. She was my bunk buddy and became my best friend since then. We shared a cabin for two; it was fun. The others had bigger ones, but also, more people to share their space with.

I hate to say it like this, but… she came into my life to replace the memory of my own sister. I started to forget her, I stopped missing her and Cat took over. You might say that I protect Cat —in my own way— because I could never do that with Hanna, and it's the truth.

As this last second of my life wasn't already long enough, I keep having flashes of it. Like the moment I met Robbie and Andre, both of them were talking at the entrance of the School Theater, I didn't pay much attention. A little later Beck joined them and that's when it got interesting. We became friends on a group assignment, the five of us, always together.

Of course, that was until dear Tori Vega came along to mess up my perfectly contained existence.

I can remember the first time I saw her, touching my perfect boyfriend, shattering —little by little— the walls of my world. Not because she was touching him, but because she wasn't touching me.

I know, it took me a while to recognize it, to admit it to myself, even more, to do something about it. I finally got some courage this morning and I grabbed her by the arm and locked her with me in an empty classroom. I pushed her lips with mine, abruptly, hard, violently. I couldn't contain myself.

She tried to keep up, but she became discombobulated and pushed me away. She put a hand to her mouth, covering it, unable to process what had happened just then.

The bell rang again and she was about to leave, so I pleaded her to meet me on this "empty" parking lot to talk, to explain to her what I've just done.

I wanted to finally come clean about my feelings, to confess that I liked her, more than that actually, that I started to fall in love with her.

It's been only a few hours since I stole that kiss and now I know I'll never have another chance.

The empty parking lot wasn't so empty. Burf and Sinjin were carrying a gas tank inside their truck; they used it to fuel a machine for one of their plays.

Robbie and Beck were helping them with the utilities.

Andre was walking alongside Cat a few feet back, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I'm sure Tori told them about the kiss and that she was scared to meet me alone; she trusted them the most, they were —after all— her best friends. She walked towards me and I did the same, to meet her half way.

All of us were too close to the start point of this bloody tragedy. I bet that if I could draw a circle with us inside, it wouldn't be more than fifteen feet in diameter.

It happened in an instant, I was nervous as it was, I was afraid to fuck it all up, to scare her away. I walked hesitant, rubbing my hands together to release some sort of repressed anxiety.

All of the sudden, I heard a loud boom. I turned around to see the gas tank bouncing off the truck. The contact of the metal with the asphalt created a spark. It took only a second, but I saw how a small flame lit and followed the way back to the top of the tank, apparently it was leaking and the fall didn't help. As soon as it reached the bouncing object, it created an explosion that hit the car so badly, it turned sideways and the gasoline started to pour out.

Bigger flames reached the sky and then another explosion.

There is nothing left in over twenty feet around, I know, I can finally feel the extreme heat of the fire all around me, my last second is over. No more memories to fill my mind, no more opportunities to create new ones, no more… nothing.

We are all dead, that I know.

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**Author's note: **This was a short idea I had a while ago, not actually the "accident" I was planning but it fit the prompt and I decided to adapt it. I probably will think about the original idea and develop it someday. I have to many fics on my mind, so I'll finish the ones I've already started.

Let me know what you thought of it. If you don't want to write much, remember I accept Visa, MasterCard or a simple smiley face or a sad one. :) :(

Have a good day, bye!


	4. Compromise

**Compromise**

Written for the 7DoVP (Seven days of Victorious prompts).

**Disclaimer: Victorious doesn't belong to me.**

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The thing about compromise is that you, sometimes, don't have a choice.

You agree to something and keep up with the rules. You comply, you consent to a certain behavior, but you end up giving up something, you renounce your choice.

Two years ago I did exactly that. I was in love, I was lost, I needed her and I settled for whatever I could grab for myself.

I'm her lover, her partial secret —because her husband knows very well about my existence— but most importantly I'm her toy, her game and pleasure, her inflatable doll.

So, you ask: What is it about this agreement that actually benefits me?

Her.

I get to have her, full on, completely naked for me. And I don't talk about nudity, I talk about her soul. Her perfectly flawed soul, the one that can be completely honest and open, the one that can tear my skin because she finally gets a release when we are together, something she can't find on that old guy she married out of convenience —she says its love… but it's not— with me she is Tori, with the world Victoria.

I have reached my breaking point though, I'm tired to get home and find her right there, in the kitchen, making dinner, as if she was my wife, them we will fuck just as if we were in our honeymoon and then, she is gone, as if she never existed. Backwards, it's all backwards.

The time she is not with me, she doesn't pick up one call, returns one message or gives a freaking smoke signal to let me know she is alive.

I can spend days without hearing one word and then, she is there again… in that kitchen.

That was the compromise.

"You have all of me… on the few hours I give you."

Those were the terms.

I'm still in love… that's the sad part. I'm still lost, probably much more than before; I still need her but… I'm no longer willing to settle.

Without me, she has the perfect life, the wealthy husband, the career she wanted and the status that came with it.

With me she has only one thing, love…

I am moving away, it's time to break this deal, to move on, to forget her and find myself. I'm tired of feeling used, of waking up alone, of breathing hard and containing the air in my lungs as I open the door, unable to know if there is going to be a happy night were we fill the house with our laughs and moans or if it's going to be terrifying silence crushing me from all sides.

I'll do for her one more thing, at least, I'll leave a note. A thing she has never done, it wasn't part of the deal.

I push my bags out of here, right up to a cab that will take me to the airport. I took a job in New York, too far away from her to drive on the afternoons to spend the night.

I guess I could be easy to find, but I hope she doesn't look for me. I want to forget, I want to live life as I should be, proud, happy, loved and out… out of the closet were she hid me.

I need to figure out who I am, because I don't really know anymore, I'm definitely not the Jade West everyone remembers and I need to be. I must take the reins of my existence and do only one thing…

Stop compromising for other people and make the conscious choice to start living for myself.

I'm out.

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**Author's note: **I know I'm posting a lot of the prompts on a single day. I'm sorry but I got busy at my work and it's been impossible to write. I hope that by the end of today I can post the other one I'm writing, which is a Cori that has the other 3 prompts into one.

You know the deal, it takes nothing to leave a ":)" or a ":(" depending if you liked the story or not. It's much appreciated.

Have a good rest of the day and see you at night. Bye!


	5. Of Tree Houses and Fireflies

Written for the 7DoVP (Seven days of Victorious prompts).

**Author's Note: **I decided to create one single one-shot with the three remaining prompts, Tree House, Fireflies and Drinking about you. I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: Victorious doesn't belong to me.**

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It was time for spring-cleaning; her room was a disaster, clothes thrown around everywhere, movie boxes on the floor right around her favorite pair of shoes. Her Playstation controller inside a bowl of half eaten Doritos in the middle of the room, left without care after an all-night session of Assassin's Creed, and her backpack… untouched since that first day of vacation last Friday.

"Tori, I will not… listen to me very well, I will not tolerate you letting yourself go and live like the world is over," Holly said watching her daughter hiding under the covers.

"Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for a talk," Tori responded with a muffled voice.

Okay fine, her first approach hadn't been the right one, but she had been witness to her daughter's dismay, over the past few days and she was desperate.

"Honey," she said, sitting down besides the bulge of that bed. "I know you have a broken heart… and these are going to be difficult days, but please… try, okay?" she caressed Tori's back as she shed silent tears under all those blankets. After receiving no answer for a few seconds she gave a couple of sweet taps over her daughter and stood up to leave. "I'm going to go to work, but when I get back, I want to see your room in order," she said. "It will give you clarity."

Tori knew her mom was only trying to help. Although, she was very aware that if that mess wasn't fixed by the time she returned, she would be in a lot of trouble and her mother might ground her. Which meant… well, absolutely nothing, since she no longer had a girlfriend to spend her time with.

Around eleven she got up, slowly, removed the covers that had her buried in sadness and sat at the border of her bed. She panned over sighing to the fact that it would take her the rest of the day to put everything back into place.

"Fuck life," she whispered as she got up and walked to her closet —kicking everything on her way— to grab a clean change of clothes and then head down the hall into the bathroom to take a shower. It had been two and a half days that she has been in the same attire and not even a drop of water had touched her body.

She turned on the shower and let the water run until —a few minutes later— vapor filled the room, she only noticed when the mirror blurred in front of her and she could no longer see those big dark bags under her eyes.

Who knew that you could play your favorite mayhem game bawling your eyes out and still move on three levels.

She opened the cold water making a perfect mix, got undressed and carefully tipped the bottom of the bathtub with her toes until she became acquainted with the pleasant temperature and entered fully.

There were hundreds of thoughts running her mind; memories, words, fights, but also kisses, hugs, laughs… and just like that, she started to sob again.

The sad thing was that —whenever she cried under the water— she couldn't feel her tears fall, both got confused with each other, taking away that sudden peace of release.

As the stream hit her back and covered her body with a warm coat, she was overwhelmed with the sound of the drops. It resembled rain, the rain of that afternoon when everything started.

Back then, Los Angeles had been hit with the remains of the hurricane season far west. It poured for three days straight, all you could see outside the window was a constant drizzle and a grey sky.

Not that she didn't prefer to do something with her friends or that beautiful redheaded girl, but she decided to stay home and read for a while, then watch a movie and finally hit the pillow and sleep. The bad weather called for some "me" time.

It wasn't long from the minute she got cozy under the covers, with a hot cup of chocolate over the nightstand and a good Stephen King's book, that she received a call that would change her plans.

"VEGA," a certain Goth yelled over the other side of the line.

"Jade?"

"What the hell did you do to Cat?"

"What? Cat? Nothing!" she quickly responded. "I haven't seen her since yesterday at school."

"She just called me crying because of you!"

"What? I didn't do anything," she jumped out of bed and started walking around her room, wondering what happened.

"What did she say?"

The voice at the other side went silent, but she could hear the music on the background.

"Jade, what did Cat say?"

"I don't know," the pale girl answered.

"Really?!" Tori yelled annoyed. How is it that, two minutes earlier, it was all her fault and now she had no idea what all the fuzz was about.

"She wept the whole time and the only thing I could understand was your name," Jade explained turning aggressive once more. "Now, tell me. What did you do? So I can plan on how to kill you."

"I don't know, Jade! Everything was all right between us when we said goodbye and I got into Matthew's car-" she stopped herself, realizing that what might have bothered her little friend, must be that she was hanging around her ex-boyfriend again.

"Cat hates him, you know?"

"Yes, I know! She has told me many times," the brunette sat on her bed and frowned as she tried to remember if she had seen Cat upset about this over the past few weeks.

"Well?"

"Well what, Jade?"

"Are you his girlfriend again? Is that what you did?"

"What? No!" she answered and then got extremely worried. "Why? Do you think Cat believes I'm back with Matt?"

"Maybe, I mean you hang around him all the time and the hugs and kisses… I mean you might as well be," Jade said in an accusatory manner.

"What the hell Jade? He is my friend, you know? And there are no kisses between us, I respect Cat very much," Tori said defending herself, but soon she figured she was explaining things to the wrong person. "I'm going to call Cat and straighten this out."

"She won't pick up."

"Why?"

"Her phone died while we were speaking. Well, while she sobbed whatever it was she was trying to say."

"I'll call her home then, goodb-"

"She is not at her house either," Jade interrupted her before she hung up the call.

"Well, do you know where she is?"

"At the tree house in her garden. She is waiting for her parents to return from the supermarket."

"Great!" Tori grunted frustrated. "Thanks for the info anyway."

She said goodbye to her "friend" and started to dress up to go look for Cat. She put on her purple rain boots over some tight jeans and a loose hoodie on top of her pajama's shirt. She grabbed her raincoat and an umbrella and started to walk over the redhead's house. It was ten blocks away, so, it took her over twenty-five minutes to get there, no matter how covered she was, she arrived soaking wet.

It was really cold and it seamed as if the sky had no plans to stop the rain from falling, even thunders were heard, here and there.

She climbed the wooden ladder and called out for the girl that didn't answer her back. However, there was a tiny light coming from inside that reflected at the lower edge of the door. She knocked twice, but still no answer.

"Cat, I know you are in there," she pleaded. "Can I come in… please?"

"No," hushed the voice from inside.

"Please baby… let me in."

As if Tori didn't know, she used one of Cat's favorite nicknames to persuade her to open the door.

"Kay, kay…" Cat replied still sad. It took a couple of seconds for her tiny figure to appear behind the door and slide it vaguely, inviting her in.

"Hey," Tori said, keeping some distance, she knew that this situation required smoothness.

"You are dripping."

"I know. I'm sorry, I don't want to make a mess in here," she said standing by the entrance while her cute friend sat down over one of the poof couches on the floor.

"You can take off you coat if you want and come here," she said tapping a place by her side, asking Tori to join her. "It's warmer near the heater."

It was a pretty modern tree house that her father and brother had built for her when she was younger. All the commodities available, a cooler for drinks over the summer and an electrical outlet for the small tv and radio, to which now the mobile heater box was plugged into.

The Latina hung her dripping raincoat and sat down rubbing her hands to generate some heat.

"Do you want some chocolate?" Cat offered extending a piece. "It will make you warm."

"Thanks!" Tori picked it up and quickly took it to her mouth, it was a delicious bar of Swiss almond chocolate that melted as soon as it touched her tongue. "Why are you here in the cold, did you get locked out?"

"Yes, I went to visit my Nona and I forgot the keys on my other purse."

"You know that if you had nowhere to go you could've come to my house, right?"

Cat didn't know how true that was, after all she didn't want to _interrupt_ Tori if she was with her ex.

"Why are you here? I thought you were going to take a personal day and rest."

"I was, but Jade called me."

Cat shook her head in disapproval; she should have imagined her friend might do that.

"Can I ask what is going through that pretty head of yours?"

"Nothing," she sighed.

Watching Cat in such a low mood broke her heart. She wanted to know for sure what was bothering her and fix it as soon as she could; she needed to see that bright smile on her face again.

"Can I guess?" Tori asked, receiving a slight nod in return.

"Is it about Matt?" the redhead denied again.

"Then... is it about Matt and me?" now she nodded and lowered her head hoping not to start crying again.

"He is just my friend. You know this," the Latina affirmed and waited for her friend to respond. Apparently she wasn't sure on what to say. She had her gaze lost in some part of the wall. Then, putting her head in between her bent knees she turned to meet those big brown eyes and hushed:

"You like him…" the little one lamented, no longer being able to contain her sadness.

"I do," Tori confirmed getting closer to her friend to grab her hand. "But just as a friend, nothing more, I promise you."

"But Jade told me-"

"I'm going to kill her!" Tori said enraged as she realized the Goth might poison everything with a sarcastic and unnecessary comment. However, she soon realized this was Cat's best friend she was threatening. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "What did she say?"

"That… she saw you Friday night over the mall, hugging him and he gave you a kiss… and you let him."

"Ugh, it's not like that, trust me."

"It's okay," Cat said with grief, taking her hand away from Tori's. "You and I are not really together. You can kiss whomever you want."

"But… I don't want to kiss anyone else but you, I thought that was clear. I like you Cat, not Matt."

"Then why were you hugging and kissing him?"

The brunette let out a soft breath and started explaining that her ex had asked about her recent _happiness_ and if maybe there was someone special in her life. She obviously was so eager she told him all about Cat and her, and how great the dates were going. He got really excited and picked her up in his arms. He gave her a small kiss on her cheek, but they didn't kiss on the mouth or anything like that.

"It was all innocent, I swear. We are just friends," Tori ended, but her redheaded friend said nothing and she started to feel a pit on her stomach. "You _do_ believe me, right?" Nothing, the little kitty wasn't willing to say a word. "I'm so sorry Cat, I honestly am, and I understand if you don't believe over your best friend, but she is wrong."

After a few minutes of silence, Tori felt defeated and decided to leave, maybe what her friend needed was time.

"I should go… I'm sorry again. I never meant to hurt you," she stood up and was ready to pick up her coat when she hear a tiny murmur from behind.

"I believe you."

The brunette released her bated breath and turned back.

"Good, that's good!"

And so it was, just as if nothing had happened Cat was wearing her beautiful smile again, creating those dimples that made Tori's knees fail.

"Do you care if I stay with you until the rain stops? It's freezing out there."

"Come here, have another piece of chocolate. It will rain for a while."

"So what do you do here when you can't get out?"

"Nothing much, sometimes I read, I paint, I listen to music or I just think," Cat got up to throw the empty package into the trash can and as she sat back down, she saw Tori's face and started giggling.

"What? Do I have a spider in my hair?"

"No silly, you have a little bit of melted chocolate on your lower lip," the redhead leaned in and kissed it clean. "There, all good."

The Latina wasted no time to repeat the kiss. It was true that she had no intention of kissing another lips, those slim, red, cherry flavored ones where perfect.

"Tori?"

"Yeah?"

They said between kisses.

"Does this mean… we are girlfriends?"

Tori stopped at once and backed up a little, to make sure she heard right.

"Well, em… we have been dating for a month now and I feel that, I-" _It's okay dork, it's about time, just ask her_, the brunette thought and took a big encouraging breath. "I would love for you to be my girlfriend. Would you… like to be?"

"Only on one condition."

"Oh… Okay, shot!"

"You make sure that everyone knows that I'm your girlfriend, specially Matt."

Of course she would, how could she not? There was no point in hiding such a radiant gorgeous girl.

"Gladly, the whole world will know," Tori said, cupping her now girlfriend's face with both hands and pressing their lips in another slow and tender kiss.

"TORI!" Trina yelled from behind the bathroom door. "Are you done?"

"What do you want? I'm in the shower!"

"I know! But it's been an hour, you must be a prune."

"Damn it," the girl that was lost in her memories mumbled looking at the wrinkles in her hands.

"Tori? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'll be out in a sec," she turned off the shower, wrapped a towel on her head and then got dressed.

An hour later, she was finally done taking all the dirty dishes downstairs and picking her clothes from the floor and into the washing machine, but all the mess below was still there. The letters she re-read the day of the break up, the things Cat had giving her on the days they celebrated one more month together, pictures they have taken on the photo booth at the fair, tickets to the numerous theater shows and movies they went to; practically an entire trip down memory lane. Fixing that room was the worst possible way to spend her afternoon.

"What are you doing?" Trina said as she sat down, handing her younger sister a bottle of water. "Oh, you are collecting the debris of your relationship."

"Get out," Tori urged tossing it aside; she wasn't in the mood to let anybody remind her how bad it had ended.

"Come one Tori!" her sister said taking a seat besides her. "I'm only trying to help."

Tori kept sobbing, letting go one tear every now and then, as she brushed through some of the images and things on that floor.

"This can't be true."

"I know you are hurting Tor, and what I'm going to tell you is going to sound harsh but-" she started to caress her sister's back, watching her contemplate one picture in particular, with a string of salty drops tracing her cheek. "You have to put all of these in a box and throw them away. You are in _denial_. It's not good for you to keep looking at this things."

"I know," Tori whispered, touching Cat's face with her fingertips.

"It's over Tori… You have to see the good things you still have in your life and let go."

"Let go… yeah-" she said with one day in mind, the day that picture was taken.

It was the beginning of summer, and the guys had proposed to go to the beach and take some surfing lessons.

Jade of course only made it to the sand part of the beach, she pulled out a sun chair and grabbed a bottle of sunscreen, so Beck could help her putting it on.

Cat was wearing her professional surfing suit, she had learned with her brother when she was little and actually enjoyed it very much. Tori, in the other hand, went dressed in a yellow dotted bikini, becoming the laughing stock of the instructor and her friends.

"What? I didn't know I had to wear something special to do this," she said laughing along.

"If you surf in that… you will leave the beach topless," Cat said taking an extra shirt from her bag. "Only I get to see you topless," she whispered in her ear as she helped her get into it.

Tori felt her cheeks turning red with what she had just heard and couldn't help to give her a small but no so quick kiss on the lips.

"Get a room!" Jade yelled at them, making everyone else take notice of the moment. Of course their friends started teasing the young couple. Both girls just giggled along and got ready for the quick training before entering the water.

"Stay flat, paddle, paddle, paddle and when you grab the wave, jump and extend your arms," Cat kept reminding her the instructions they had received a moment ago. It was the first time Tori did this and she was nervous about falling.

"Okay, I'll follow you."

Cat wasted no time in gliding in the water, going deeper into the ocean to wait for a deserving wave to ride. Tori tried to stay close, but she kept being pulled by the crushing waves that broke near the shore.

"You have to push down the board and submerge yourself though the wave," Cat yelled from the other side.

The brunette gave it a couple of tries until she finally made it passed the water wall. She paddled slowly towards her girlfriend and almost without air said hi again, as if they hadn't seen each other in a while.

"You look exhausted," Cat said with a funny grin.

"This… is… quite the sport," she responded catching her breath.

"We can rest here for a while."

The water was so clear Tori could see Cat's feet wiggling under.

"Good, because if I have to paddle some more… I'll have a heart attack," Tori said looking up. There was not a cloud on the sky, an incredible nice and sunny day.

"You look very pretty in that suit," Cat said as a compliment, the fact is that she thought Tori looked very hot, but she was always very self-conscious about being so blunt, she preferred nice and subtle flattery.

"Thank you babe," she replied and looking at her up and down she said: "You look incredible in that suit, too."

"Maybe you can help me take it off later, you know it sometimes gets stuck to me," her redheaded sweetheart said with a smile and Tori paddled until she was close enough to steal a kiss.

"I'd love to."

After about a half hour they tried to surf a little, but as expected, Tori fell flat on her butt all the times she happened to catch a wave.

"We'll try again soon," Cat said right before they took that picture and headed back home. "Don't worry, the first time I surfed, I fell all day long. You are a fast learner, you just have to _let go_."

After consoling her sister for a while Trina went to the cellar and gathered an empty cardboard box, leaving it at the door, just in case Tori found the courage to put the pain to rest and toss those memories aside. After all, it had been a week that she had lived under that rubble, crying herself to sleep.

Every little thing she placed inside, brought her another tear, her eyes were completely shot by then, and her head was exploding with pain.

After disposing of everything that was lying around, she started to go through her drawers and shelves taking, one by one, all of the things that reminded her of the girl with the bright red hair. But there was one thing she couldn't bear to put in the box.

There it was, still on her bed, wrapped around the purple covers, a firefly plushie that Cat made for her at the Stuffed Animal Store, two days before Christmas.

They had talked about not spending to much money on a gift, you know? They wanted anything they could share on that special holiday, to be meaningful.

The first thing that came to mind was to go and enjoy a couple of delicious hotdogs at the stand by the pier —where they had their first date— It had become their favorite place, because it offered extra large hotdogs and included a nice lemonade or a cone of flavored crashed ice —Cat always ordered a cherry cone— But it seamed as a very ordinary activity, so they decided to pass on the idea.

The second suggestion was to go to a movie and then a walk by the beach, but ever since one of the kids at school got mugged there, everyone started acting extra careful, especially at night.

So, finally, Tori saw this ad on Facebook and decided to check it out. It was a new Toy Store that had a plushie factory in which you could go and create your own. It wasn't expensive at all and it was located two blocks away from the nearest mall.

Cat loved stuffed animals, in fact, Mr. Purple always slept by her side. The idea sounded fun and both of them got really excited. They would make a plushie to keep close and hug when they missed each other. It was the perfect idea.

Once at the store, they explored the place choosing accessories for their dolls, not really knowing what the other one was going to make, it was supposed to be a surprise so, it was forbidden to peek. Well, Cat did once, but only to make sure that, "Tori didn't need any help"… yeah right!

Once they were done, they got to the cashier and asked him to wrap them with a very colorful Christmas paper and then took them home to place them under their respective Christmas trees.

I can tell you that Cat's enthusiasm could only be described as _the worst_ _anxiety case Tori has ever seen_. She wanted to open her present, it didn't matter that there was only one more day for the big exchange, she couldn't wait and started to become desperate.

Calls, messages, posts on her Slap profile, she tried everything, but her girlfriend wanted to give it to her on Christmas morning with another surprise she had planned.

"Come on baby, you only have to wait a few more hours," Tori said over the phone.

"I know! But my new friend must be really scared, being trapped in that gift paper and all," Cat said with hopes of touching a sympathetic nerve in her girlfriend.

"It's going to be okay."

"But Tori, have you watched Toy Story?"

"Yes, but you know very well that it's an animated movie."

"Yes, your point?" Cat asked playing dumb.

"It's not real…" Tori said laughing, she could see exactly where this was going. She knew her girl too well to fall for that innocent act. "You know you can't fool me with your cuteness, right?"

A giggle was heard from the other side of the line.

"I can try," she replied as she realized she had been discovered. "Please, you know I'm very bad at waiting."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait."

The next morning, very early, Tori called her asking her to look through her window. Cat was half sleep and she didn't even open her eyes as she walked from her bed and opened the curtains.

"Surprise!"

"What?"

"Cat, open you eyes!"

The girl with the redheaded girl rubbed her face with the sleeves of her shirt and little by little started to focus her sight.

"Oh my God! It's snowing in LA?!"

She dropped her phone and came down running to her front door. Tori was waiting with her gift in hands and was received with a huge hug. Although, upon looking outside and realizing that it was a sunny day, and the garden of her house was as green as ever, she wondered if what she had seen from her upstairs was a dream.

"It wasn't, I made it snow just outside your window," Tori explained pointing at the machine at the front.

"Oh! Like my little snow maker, but bigger."

"Yes, I wanted to give you a white Christmas, You know? Like in the movies you love so much…. Sort of… Well, I tried."

"It's a very nice touch, thanks," Cat said pulling her inside.

"Marry Christmas baby, here you go. Open it!" Tori handed the plushie she'd made.

"Wait, here is yours, we can open them at the same time!"

Wrapping paper went flying everywhere. There was a saying that if you tear it apart it will bring you more gifts, so Cat went crazy with it.

"A purple octopus? I love it!" she hugged the little thing like there was no tomorrow; it had very long extremities and a very small head. His eyes were two small buttons and he had three strays of red hear on top, just like his new mom.

Tori opened hers and found a very peculiar looking beetle. It had a smile from side to side and his eyes were closed showing his long eyelashes. His hard wings actually opened up and showed a very yellow butt. _It's really pretty_, she thought.

"It's a firefly!" Cat mentioned with excitement. "Remember? The night we became girlfriends, when we came down the tree house the whole garden was-"

"Filled with fireflies," Tori completed the sentence, of course she remembered, they had been mesmerized by the sight and stood there, holding each other by the tree, watching as little lights roamed around.

"You are always saying that it was the best night of your life. I made it so you never forget it."

And it had been, right until the break up, the best night of her life. The one that after months of wondering and doubting her own feelings and discovering they were reciprocated, they became girlfriends. How can it not be the best?

She found herself falling asleep with "Buggy" in arms. Holly entered the room and saw everything in place and the big box on a side. She sighed and covered her daughter for the night. Tori looked exhausted and she didn't want to wake her up.

"You'll be okay, sweetie," she whispered kissing her hair and left the room.

Next morning her mother instructed Trina not to bother her sister and to let her sleep. Around ten in the morning she woke up on her own, opened her eyes and stretch looking at the rooftop. She had to do it; she had to get rid of all that stuff. There was no point on delaying it anymore. They were over, it was done.

She got dressed without too much care and as she was leaving she encountered the figure of a certain Goth by the door.

"Jade, what do you want?"

"I came to see how you were doing," she said looking at the Latina take out the big box to her car.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't but-"

"Then get lost," Tori replied turning around the car to get into the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" Jade yelled.

"None of your business," Tori said turning on the car and leaving without another word.

Minutes later she pulled over in front of the redhead's house. She carried the box to the door and was about to ring the bell, when she saw Robbie and Cat —through the window— laughing on the living room.

The sight broke her heart, literally, she felt as her chest shattered in a million pieces and all the pain she had been feeling for over a week was suddenly nothing compared to that.

She released the box right there and started to walk back to her car. However, the loud sound of all that stuff hitting the floor alerted those inside and Cat rushed to see what had happened.

"Tori?"

The Latina stopped and froze as soon as she heard her voice again. Her name being called with such affection, it hurt even worst.

"What… What's this?"

"Your stuff," Tori explained turning around.

"No, it's not."

"Yeah, it is," the brunette stated. "I was going to throw it away, but thought you might want to… keep some things."

"I gave you all of this," Cat said feeling confused. "They're gifts, my gifts to you."

"Those are useless memories. If you don't want them throw them away. I don't care."

Cat looked around and noticed that some on the things had fallen out of the box and there it was… that cute firefly, lying flat over the grass.

"You were going to throw Buggy?" the little girl said with a heavy heart, saddening immediately. "But… it was the best day of your life-"

"Was… Now it's the worst," she got inside her vehicle and turning on the gas parted without looking back. Of course, she had to park a few blocks down because the tears wouldn't let her see anything and she feared she might crash. She hated being mean to Cat, but at the same time that she had been mourning their relationship, her ex-girlfriend was laughing along that freaky curly haired boy, the one that was supposed to be her friend and ended up ruining all they had.

Jade got to see Tori storm out and quickly parked, rushing to see what was going on. Cat was crying holding the plushie in arms and Robbie —of course— was consoling her.

"Was that Tori? I was just at her house and she left _furious_!"

"Yeah, she threw out all this 'crap' here and made Cat cry," Robbie said without noticing the stupidity of his comment.

"It's not crap! It's everything I ever gave her."

"What did she say?" Jade asked.

"That she was going to throw it away and-"

"Don't think about that Cat, Tori is a gank," the boy added.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jade fumed out at him. "Where you dropped as a child?"

"I… was just trying to-"

"Get out," the Goth demanded but the boy didn't comply. "GET OUT! Now!" she yelled finally striking the fear needed to make him jump and start hurrying his steps to the sidewalk.

"See you later, Cat!" he said as he started to jog out of there.

"What happened with Tori?"

"What?" her redheaded friend asked, not really understanding the question. "Nothing, she came here and did this."

"I don't mean right now! I'm asking, what was the reason you broke up with her?"

"She… she changed a lot."

"How?"

"I don't know… she was too jealous, too upset all the time, she would have a frown everywhere we went and I didn't like it," Cat explained. "She wasn't the Tori I fell in love with, not anymore."

"Jeez, Cat, you are definitely blind, aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know that you were the one that provoked that behavior in her, right?"

No, she didn't know. According to her, she conducted herself as she always had. What could she have done to incite this?

"How?" Cat replied frustrated. "By going out with my friends?"

"Yes!"

"I don't understand. Tori did that too, and no one is saying anything about it."

"Cat, it's not the same," Jade tried explaining. "I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed very much when you started to do this to her —I never really liked Vega— but at some point it turned ugly, you went to far and if I have to say it, it's because you crossed the line."

"Doing what? I don't understand."

"Dating Robbie!"

"What? I wasn't dating him! He is my friend, just like Matt is to Tori."

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Jade shook her head in disbelief. After all, she had been there and saw it all develop. "When Tori went out with Matt, she always made sure you were around. Not only that, but she never flirted with him. You did, all the time… with Robbie."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, really! How about the night we went to the movies and you sat by Robbie's side and ate of his popcorn instead of Tori's? Or what about that day at the park, when he brought you sandwiches and a juice box and you accepted them instead of the burritos Tori made for you."

"But-"

"No, no! Wait! Remember the time when she asked you to do that special work for Scenography Class and you said yes, but when Robbie asked you to help him and you switched partners to do it with him?"

"But, he needed my help-"

"Or when you told her you would be in my house and she went to surprise you and the real 'surprise' was that you had gone to have dinner at Robbie's house."

"I did that as a favor-"

"Wait, I have a better one. How about the time we went to the fair, at the pier, and you decided to sit with Robbie —again, what a coincidence— two rows ahead of Tori, who seated with Andre and cried, —hoping none of us noticed— after seeing you run around with that freak all afternoon!" Jade kept giving her examples as she watched Cat realize all the times she had treated Tori poorly. "That one… that one was cruel, Cat. Even I felt bad for her. Remember? It was the night you two broke up."

"Jade… I-"

"You dated Robbie while you were in a relationship with Tori and she took it all. I have no idea how, because if Beck ever did that to me, he and that bitch would be already buried ten feet under ground."

"But I never meant to-"

"What, hurt her?" Jade interrupted again and sighed hard, because she couldn't believe her friend didn't see what she was doing. "Do you love her, Cat?"

"I-"

"You know what? I don't care. Answer me this, why did you two break up? The real reason."

"I already told you-"

"No! The real reason Cat, the one you know it's true. Not the one someone fed you up," Jade silently accused Robbie of influencing her friend to the break up and she wasn't wrong because for the past two months he had been creating situations in which he could poison Cat with doubts and insecurities. He wanted her and he was going to get her at any cost.

"Robbie said than maybe we needed some time apart to think of what we really want," Cat finally confessed. She felt terrible, used and dumb, she let herself fall in his game, mostly because she really didn't think she was doing anything wrong, she didn't know she was hurting Tori or that it was the reason why she was always so volatile. She was helping a friend, being kind and grateful for the attention he gave her. She had been a fool.

"What do you want, Cat?"

"I want Tori back!" she said with tears in her eyes.

"…I know Kitty Cat. You love Vega. I know," she said watching her friend nod, still holding unto Buggy. "I hope is not too late for you to fix this, I really do." Jade wished wholeheartedly, "Come on, I'll drive you to her house."

Both girls got the box inside Cat's room and left to pay Tori a visit. Jade was about to park when she saw —at a distance— the nerd with the glasses, walking towards his house.

"You are going to have to do this on your own Kitty Cat, I have something to take care of."

"Wish me luck," the little one said closing the door, breathing deep as she walked into the Vega's entrance.

It took no time for Jade to catch up with Robbie and lowering the passenger's side window she yelled at him:

—Get in loser; I'll give you a ride!

Once inside, she locked all the doors, but he didn't saw anything wrong with that and wasn't alarmed.

"So, tell me. Are you getting close?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on Robbie. Are you close to hooking up with Cat?"

"I have no idea what you mean," —he laughed nervously. "I think I can walk from here."

"Oh, no! I'll take you."

Five minutes passed and the Goth didn't say one word. He was too scared to ask anything, even more about confessing his intentions with Cat, Jade might kill him.

"You just passed the turn to my house-" the boy ended understanding his friend's intentions. "We are not going to my house, are we?"

"Nope," she said. "We need to talk."

Meanwhile, Cat was still standing at the front door, unsure to ring the bell. What could she say? She had been a bad girlfriend, she didn't even noticed what she was doing.

She watched as Tori's car entered the garage and got even more nervous.

"Okay, give her five minutes to park and then ring the bell… all right, it's going to be okay. Right Buggy?" she asked still holding that plushie in arms.

Not even two minutes passed and she was pressing that button. Waiting really wasn't her thing.

"Who is it?" Trina asked from inside.

"It's me, Cat."

Trina pretended she didn't hear that and walked upstairs to her room. She had no interest on opening the door for the girl who caused her little sister to be so sad for the past week.

Cat rang the bell again and heard Tori said, "Come in," as always, she never asked who it was.

"Hey," the redhead said softly walking inside. The brunette, who wasn't looking at the door closed her eyes, regretting not making sure who was at it, before inviting her in.

"What are you doing here?" Tori asked annoyed, turning around.

"I'm sorry," Cat whispered making Tori _angrier_ for some reason."

"What was that? I can't hear you!"

"I'm sorry, Tori. I really am," the redhead repeated with a louder voice.

"Good," the Latina replied crossing her arms.

"I know now, that Robbie had been playing with me and put me against you-"

"Don't bring that… _boy,_ into this."

"Okay," she agreed, breathing heavily, encouraging herself to continue. "I behaved badly with you… and I'm really sorry."

"Better."

"I thought I was helping a friend, and I thought you were turning into a very jealous person," Cat continued emphasizing each I, as she spoke, she wanted to make clear that she understood it had been her fault. "I was told over and over, that I should be free to be a good friend and I shouldn't let you control what I did."

"I never controlled you! Ever!"

"I know, but I was told that so much, it started to make sense."

Tori shook her head because That was her girlfriend, the one that was supposed to trust her and believe in her and Robbie was a douch. How did she let this happen?

"Tori?"

"No Cat, you are too late."

"But we could-"

"No!"

Cat could see a harsh girl in front of her, not a shred of that sweet and patient person who always made her feel better and sought a smile from her any chance she got.

"So, you are not even going to listen to me?"

"I heard you that night, loud and clear."

That conversation had been engraved in her memory, it's all she thought about for days.

Both of them got back from the fair together, not even sharing one word the whole way. Tori was trying to keep herself from crying in front of her, at least until the taxi cab left them at Cat's house and, from there, she could walk home. It wasn't too late yet and she needed to breath some fresh air and think.

As they were about to say goodbye, Cat looked back at her and told her they needed to talk. Tori felt a big rush of coldness in her body, she anticipated what was about to happen. She feared that moment and had been trying to avoid it for over two weeks.

"We should have some time apart."

"Apart?"

"Yes," Cat said serious. "I don't know you anymore Tori I-"

"You mean you don't _like_ me anymore," she gasped.

"It's not like that-"

"It seams like that… it feels like that," the brunette confessed looking down, feeling her eyes release a strand of salty drops before asking. "Do you love him?"

Cat knew she was talking about Robbie; they've been fighting for a while about all the time that Cat had been spending with him.

"You have this all wrong. He is my friend, like he is yours. I'm not cheating on you."

"Then why are you breaking up with me?"

"Because… you've changed."

Tori gave her and ironic laugh with much frustration. It was she who had changed, of course.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Tori-"

"At least give me an honest answer. Do you still love me?"

Cat shook her head from side to side softly and watched as Tori shrunk a little.

"I don't love this Tori."

"Okay," the Latina hushed and turned around to leave that place, she could no longer bear to be there, not after that. She stopped for a moment and without turning back she gasped, "I still love you… bye Cat."

And there she went… she walked as fast as she could until she knew she wasn't in Cat's sight and then stopped to call Trina to ask her to pick her up. Walking with tears in her eyes wasn't easy.

"I was confused then," Cat said, also remembering that night.

"No, you weren't. You were right. We need some time away from each other."

"But we've had a week."

"It's not enough."

"Tori-"

"I think we should stay away for a while."

"Maybe we could talk tomorrow, maybe then you would feel a little better and-"

"No," Tori answered fast and determined.

"But Tori we could-"

"I'm not _bargaining_ with you, we are done. There is nothing to talk about."

"But… I love you," Cat said trying to smile but she couldn't.

"No, you don't… but it's okay. You don't have to."

"Tori-"

"Look Cat, I don't want to be rude but I have a lot of things to do. You should go."

"I'm sorry."

"Bye Cat."

"Kay, kay," she said sadden and giving Tori one more look she stepped back slowly and got out the door.

Jade was parked upfront, waiting for her in the car. The redhead walked quickly and sat on the passenger's side putting her hands to her face and sobbed.

The Goth knew right away it hadn't gone well at all and she started the car without questions. She drove straight to her house to spend the night, she wasn't going to let her best friend wallow alone.

Three weeks passed of that day. One month since they broke up.

Tori decided to take an extra optative class in the afternoons to have the perfect excuse not to receive any of her friends in her house other than Andre, who decided to take it as well to keep his friend company.

Tori and Cat avoided each other in their joined classes and at lunch; the brunette started to hang out with a couple of her new classmates and sat at their table.

Jade made sure to always be with Cat, just in case Robbie didn't understand the reproach and warning she gave him that evening. She took him to the outsides of the city and pulled the car over. Before letting him out, she made sure that he knew that he must leave Cat alone, because she wasn't interested in him that way, also that if he didn't stop, she would go to his house and kidnap Rex to tear him apart with her scissors and leave him in a dumpster somewhere it could never be found.

The boy seamed genuinely concerned and promised to stop. However —just as an extra point to make— Jade tossed him out of her car and left him in that highway alone. He could walk home from there… and "reflect on his actions," as she told him.

Beck, of course, stood by Jade and Cat, otherwise his girlfriend would have dipped him in hot oil, and Andre, he divided his time to spend with both sides; he probably was the one that suffered the separation of the group the most.

It was Saturday night, around 2AM. Tori was listening to music, unable to sleep. If she still had a girlfriend, that day, they would have been celebrating their first anniversary.

All of the sudden her phone started beeping and a blocked number started to flash in the screen.

"Jade?"

"Tori, I know I have no right to call you this late and that you probably don't give a crap but-" she stopped rethinking if it was a good idea she was calling Tori in the first place.

"Jade? What happened? Are you okay?"

"Look, forget it, it was a terrible idea to bug you about this."

"Jade, tell me what's wrong!"

"No, it's fine, really. Forget it… bye," and with that she hung up.

A million thoughts ran through her mind. Was she in trouble? Maybe Beck… If it was Andre she would already know. The possibility that it could be Robbie didn't even crossed her mind and then it came to her as a fact, the only reason Jade would call her this late —or at all— is if it had something to do with Cat.

"Jade, what happened to Cat?" she urged her over the phone, the Goth finally picked up after the fifteenth call.

"She is not home and no one can find her," Jade said very distressed.

"Pick me up in ten minutes," the brunette said searching for some clothes to change into. "I know where she might be."

There was a park right around school that they used to go to talk at night. It was very pretty and Cat loved the fact that you could barely hear the noise of the city around.

She walked to their usual spot and there was the girl with the bright red hair with a bottle in hand and many on the floor. Tori didn't say anything but she continued to approach her slowly and sat down by her side.

"Everyone is worried sick looking for you."

"I'm right here."

"What are you doing?" Tori asked and tried to read what the labels said, but clearly they looked like beer bottles.

"I'm drinking about you," Cat said, putting a finger in front of her mouth as if it was a secret. "Do you want one?"

"Sure"

Tori took the bottle in her hands and then laughed a little.

"Cat?"

"Yeah?"

"Em… You know that these aren't really beers right?"

"Of course they are!"

"No, ba-" she stopped right away, realizing she was about to call Cat baby. She cleared her throat and started again. "No Cat, they are root beers."

"Exactly beers!"

"But they have no alcohol."

"They must have some… otherwise, why Am I feeling so bad?"

Tori watched the bottles on the floor trying to count them. There were possibly twelve and most of them were already empty.

"It's because root beer has a lot of sugar and it can make you dizzy and also a little sick if you drink this much."

"Well, I heard my brother saying that when your heart hurts you drink and it kind of makes you forget the pain," Cat explained as she made a disgust face with the last gulp she had. "And I can understand why, because if you start thinking about how bad you are feeling you sort of forget everything else."

Tori kept quiet because she had also been tempted to do just that, to grab a bottle of something from her parent's minibar and relieve some pain.

"I would've been a year, you know?" Cat whispered taking her legs up to her chin.

"Yeah, I know."

"I had the perfect gift planned for you," Cat mentioned with her sight lost around the trees and one lip tingling as she was filled with the excruciating need to cry. "I was going to take you to the Botanic Garden tour at night, because they have a place where fireflies gather and you can watch their lights."

"That would've been nice," Tori confessed. She still loved those insects too much. Whatever happened, it still was the best night of her life.

"This is stupid."

"What is?"

"You and I. We love each other, I know we do… but we don't even cross a word, we don't even say hello anymore."

"I know."

"See? Stupid," Cat grabbed another bottle from the floor and was set to open it when Tori took it from her hands.

"Stop, you will feel worst."

"Maybe you should go, Tori."

"How about I stay and we talk for a while."

"About what?"

"I don't know," the Latina said taking a sip, it was a somewhat cold and maybe the sugar would make her warm. "Hmm, did you know there is a circus in town?"

"Yes, I went with my brother yesterday."

"I'm forcing Trina to go with me tomorrow."

"You'll like it. There is a yorkie that jumps through hoops, he is cute."

"I can't wait to see him," Tori said and realized that, what she loved the most about being with Cat, was this… moments like this. She thought she wasn't going to be able to have that again, but they were talking and it felt natural, it felt good. "Cat, what would you say if I asked Trina not to go and you come with me?"

"With you?"

"Yeah, you know, as a date."

Cat didn't know how to answer her, she was asking her out, no doubt about that. She wanted to go, not only for the yorkie, but for Tori.

"There it is," the brunette breathed out. Cat had, once more, that gorgeous smile she loved so much.

"Kay, kay," Cat answered and then they heard a loud angry voice yell at them.

"Are you done puking rainbows? It's late, cold and I want to sleep!" Jade said making them get up and follow her to the car.

In the middle of the way Cat grabbed Tori's hand and they interlocked their fingers. They watched a couple of fireflies pass by and, looking at each other, giggled.

Everything felt good, at ease and they clearly knew they were going to be okay once again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So, this has been long. It was an idea that popped in my mind with one single prompt, but then as I wrote I saw the opportunity of adding the other two and I grabbed it.

I hope you like it, if you did a simple ":)" on the review box is all I ask of you. If you didn't you are welcome to leave one like this. ":("

I want to thank YouCan'tControlMe and x-clownsdontbounce-x for this fabulous idea and the invitation to participate. I hope that in the future we can do something like this again.

Now I have to go to sleep, so again, thank you for the time you took to read and have a good night, bye!


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